The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-09-16

woman that she could occupy the
vehicle, and prepared to spend the
night on guard. She seemed to OD
pose this latter Arrangement, doubt.
ing II the men would return, and de
ing it was q sacrifice on my par
could not accept. | bundled he.
into my wagon, however, promising
that | might catch q nap after l or :
o'clock if all was quiet, and by let
the tire 90 down and took my circle
around the camp with cat-like step
A few coyotes and wolves came about,
but nothing seemed to disturb me.
and the hours passed AVA until :
o'clock. By hat time l was very
tired and sleepy. ! dared not stretch
out for = regular sleep, knowing that
the danger WIS not yet passed, but
sat down on q knoll about 40 feet
north of the wagon to nap a little.
knowing that any noise OF &C.
count would instantly arouse me. 1t
was perhaps a quarter Of an hour be,
fore | actually fell asleep, and almost
instantly | began to dream. l dream.
ed that | vas tied to a tree on the
plains, and that a rattlesnake was
| u wv mig W lIlCs uS Sldh6 Wds
coming to bite me, and / was helpless.
Every moment of the reptile was as
vivid as if the dream had been a real.
Ity. The serpent came very slowly,
haltlng every two or threef feet to rear
its head and look about, and when it
was within ten feet it's form changed.
1t was yet q serpent, but it had a
small brown hand, and the hand
cIutched a bulldog pistol. The pistol
was pointed full at me, and saw
that the BANNER was up.
"Whizz!" went q shadow before my
face, and then / saw behind me. The
snake was no longer in front, but
creeping up in my rear, and yet | saw
hun as plainly as before. He came
on clowly-cautiOusly-always d little
nearer. When within three feet of my
heels the pistol was raised to the back
Of my head, and l said to myself:
80 | am to be shot. 1t is a large
bullet, and it will 20 clear through my
head. | wonder why he didn't bite
me? If | was loose | would make a
fierce fight for my life.
"Clug." 1t was the sound of q pis-
toll hammer striking or the center Ola
c~artridge-a cartridge which had failed
to explode. In the same second
| was on my feet. A human figure
stood before me. l gave my
heavy rife a half sweep, and
the figure sank down with a
stifed shrek. Then l was fully
awake, and 1 bent over the stranger,
to find it was the woman who should
have been asleep in the wagon. She
was unconscious, but clutched firmly
in her right hand was the bulldog PTS
toll. | wrenched it away and carried
her to the embers of the fire, and when
l had secured a blaze I saw that had
struck her on the head and given her
a bad hurt. / examined the pistol,
and when / found that the cartridge
had been tried by the hammer, it did
not take me long to unravel the plot
against my life. l bound the woman
hand and foot. and then kept vigilant
watch until daybreak. She recovered
consciousness long enough before this,
but the only aid ! extended was to
loosen her hands and place q dish OF
water beside her. She did not adj
dress me, and / had no word for her.
When day broke there was another
surprise for me. A K;9kapoo Indian
lay dead under the wagon, shot
through the heart. 1t was a great
mystery to me, but the ma was
ready to clear it up. | united her,
washed the blood off her face and
head, and then she gave the whole
plot away. Patton had been made a
prisoner by a gang of outlaws in order
that / might be robbed. These men
knew Of the tin box inthe wagon. The
woman had been sent into camp With
che story she told, knowing that she
would get into the wagon The two
men came to distract my attention,
and the Kickapoo crept up to receive
the box. The woman couldn'tind it,
and / mistook the Indian for a wolf
and killed him. Then the woman
concluded that had the
money on me, while mapped she crept
up to shoot me and secure tt. Shs
told the particulars as coolly as / re-
late them to you, and when she had
finished she asked what / was going
to do about it. Pattonshad by that
time returned, having raised such g
INV OhnA hAc I1PbOAC lS1EON w 0Cbdln
him longer, and he answered the
question by picking up q rope and
starting for the nearest tree.
This broke tine woman down, and
she begged and pleaded so abiectl
that we left her free to 90 where she
would when we drove on. To have
taken her to Ockmulgee, KickaDoo OF
any other town as a prisoner would
have been to cause us gsatedelay and
annoyance, and il was some consola-
zion TO KnOW LnHb Jn6 gave lei
caused a wound from which she would
not recover for many days. She was
penitent enough as we drove away
but six weeks later vas killed with
her husband, ahaIf-breed, while steal
ing stock from the Creek Indians.
--
Percy Ashland, Of Adrian, Mich 8
I2-year-old boy, who is described az